Vengeance by R.C. Bridgestock

Author:R.C. Bridgestock
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Canelo
Published: 2022-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Annie was eating her sandwich at her desk at the same time as she was typing up her notes from the prison visit.

Charley was in her office with Mike, talking through the strategy for her next priority line of enquiry. It was the SIO’s job, and her job alone, to make the decisions that she believed would continue to move the investigation forward and bring it to a successful conclusion. Nursing a cup of coffee, she shared her thoughts on Grace Westbrook with her deputy and listened to his. Mike had his pen poised, waiting for her instructions.

‘I want to know which branch of the Territorial Army Grace Westbrook was attached to. I also want to know if she is trained to carry and use firearms, and if so, find out to what level and if she is upskilled with any additional qualification, including rifles. We need to know exactly what we’re dealing with.’

Mike looked up from his writing. ‘For what it’s worth, I think your gut instinct to pursue the Grace Westbrook line of enquiry is on the money,’ he said, picking up his mug and taking a sip of his drink before putting it back down on her desk so he could continue.

Charley smiled. ‘I’m glad you agree with me. I’m sure others will have their opinions about the way forward, but we have to work with the facts, the evidence and what the intelligence tells us. There’s no place for speculation.’

The SIO pointed to Mike’s notes. ‘While you’re at it, speak to Patterson’s solicitor and ask him to make contact with his client to see if he’s willing to see us.’

Mike cocked an eyebrow. ‘You think it’s worth the man hours? He didn’t co-operate in interview.’

‘I know what you’re thinking: “snitches get stitches.”’ The tension in Charley’s face relaxed into a smile when Mike looked puzzled.

She explained that the old saying had regularly been on her friend Kristine’s police officer father Marty’s lips when she was a kid. She and Kristine had often warranted her dad’s interrogation after returning home after dark, when they had been climbing trees, rolling down hills and generally larkin’ about in the river, resulting in them, and their clothes, being much the worse for wear.

As quickly as Charley’s detective mask had lifted, it fell, and Mike could sense by the change in her demeanour that her focus was clearly back on the task in hand.

‘I’m hoping that Patterson might talk to us now that he has had time to reflect that he’s been used as the fall guy by others trying to cover their own arses, and that the shit has well and truly fallen at his feet.’

Without waiting for a reply, having satisfactorily quantified her reasoning in her own mind, she looked down at her notes. When she raised her head a moment later, she moved straight onto the next point. ‘Were any fingerprints found on the money that Patterson had on him at the time of his arrest?’

‘I’ve not heard, but I’ll find out,’ said Mike.

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